Visiting grand-nephew Jim: October 27, 2012

Great-uncle Tom with Jim, who was two months old on October 24.  Jim's going to be Captain Kirk for Halloween and already has his Trekkie outfit ready to go.

At Chuy's with Jade: October 25, 2012

Jade and I stopped at Chuy's Elvis shrine: appropriate for such music-loving girls!  Jade recognized the guitar, of course.  Here, Jade has mastered queso dipping!

Emma: October 22, 2012

At dinner after Emma's choir concert on October 22. 

Emma's friend Holly, sitting across the table from her, is making a video of Emma.

More mugging for the video

Video playback

River and Mya: October 25, 2012

River's only 19 months old but can already wear the John Lennon T-shirt that Mya wore at age 2 1/2, back in her NYC days.  And Mamma's shoes too!

Sweet Mya!

Key West: October 16-20, 2012

Chickens and roosters have the run of Key West.  We saw a hen crossing the street,  followed by her whistling chicks.  So chickens really do cross the road!

This very happy fellow downed a fish just before I took the picture.  Speaking of fish, is that a fin in  the water?

Key lime pie is the signature island dessert.

I had expected sandy beaches, but Key West is a coral island with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other side.  I took this from the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor.

Guy juggling on a very tall unicycle at Mallory Square, on the western tip of the island.  

One of the six-toed cats at Ernest Hemingway's former home.  There are about 40 six-toed cats on the one-acre property.

Do you see the cruise ship?  I took the photo from the top of the lighthouse.

Isn't there a song about a straw in the coconut?

Practicing my pirate face for a sunset cruise on the Western Union,  a  schooner that was used to lay  telegraph cable  (hence the name) and also to search for German submarines in World War II.

At the end of the road

More sunset sky

Leaving Key West at sunrise on Saturday, we had to stop for a photo of  what we think is either an abandoned railroad bridge or possibly part of the original causeway connecting the Keys.  

Playing dress-up

River likes to try on Mya's dresses, which actually fit him!  He's a big boy!

Otis at the Oregon coast

Otis at Haystack Rock

Can you find Jade?

Jade likes having the lights on in the kitchen.  She can clearly say "light."

At the farmers' market: Saturday, October 13

Showed Jade (who I call "L'il Punkin" sometimes) what real pumpkins are.  We chose some pumpkins to bring home, including a little pumpkin for Jade.

Tom was drawn to the tool table.  Reminds me of the year I asked him if he'd like a  pedicure for his birthday or a trip to the Home Depot Tool Corral.  What was I thinking?

Jade was interested in carry-on bags.  Maybe for her upcoming trip to Portland?

Jade with her very own pumpkin to carry home.

Squirrel nest!

Just when we thought it was safe to sit out on the patio, thanks to the elm trees being trimmed, what should plummet from the sky but a squirrel's nest!  Luckily for the squirrels, nobody was home.

See how the squirrels strip bark and chew it into thread-like strands to weave the nest?

They also like dryer lint for the nest!

Emma and Patches

What are you and Patches reading, Emma?

River and Mya's dress up clothes

River loves changing into Mya's dress up skirts.  Looks like it's the first thing he did in the morning, putting the skirt right over his jammies!

"Man Wall" additions

Skyler sent me home from Portland with his hand prints, which  are now on the "Man Wall" in the living room next to  the portrait he gave me.  Thanks, Skyler!

Skyler has big hands!

The mask Amon made in his welding class

My favorite photo of Tom, taken by me during SXSW, probably in 2007, outside Nuno's ,  just after listening to a  visiting blues band.

The Man Wall, so far.  Additions welcome!